Black Tie & Tales

+ A Weekend of Showering
No, not rain showers. The sun shined bright on Saturday, Sept. 21, for three different showers — Nicole Kaney’s baby shower, Diana Kelly’s wedding shower and Nikki Taylor’s baby shower.

Nicole Kaney and her soon-to-be baby girl, Estella, were fêted by close friends and hostesses Liebe Gamble and Meghan Leiter (visiting from Chicago). Shoogie Boogies transformed into a pink ombré and floral fairyland with décor by Gamble and flowers by Roger Capote — not a single detail was missed, and guests especially enjoyed a fun way of opening gifts, called swift gift opening. Guests included Michelle Adams, Laura Jessen, Clara Ramos, Lindsay Howell and grandmothers-to-be Reeny Kaney and Cindy Stroth.

Also downtown, guests celebrated bride-to-be Diana Kelly, at Louies Modern. Amie Swan hosted a beautiful bridal shower, complete with a performance of “Wishing and Hoping,” the title sequence from “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” performed by Kathryn Parks, Jolie Rand and Danae DeShazer. Guests included Molly Jackson, Christina Elias, Minta Getzen, Julie Delaney and Ann Stocke.

And, finally, Nikki Taylor and her soon-to-be baby girl, Ella, were celebrated at a couples baby shower hosted by Elizabeth Bertelsen, Molly Kasperson, Meghan Serrano and Jane Thompson. More than 70 guests mingled at the cocktail party, including Nikki Sedacca, Margaret Wise, Brian and Joleen Roskamp, Dr. Chris Caufield and Shelley Lister.

+ The Designing Debut
Designing Women Boutique’s second-floor office space, directly above the boutique, is now home to not only an expansive art gallery, but an extension of the boutique as well.

“We have the second floor for the art gallery through September, so we wanted to utilize all of this space while we could,” says Executive Director Pam Day.

With fabulous merchandise donated by Gia Ventola, eveningwear that just arrived from New York City and the debut of Designing Daughters Fashions, the women of DWB planned “The Designing Debut.”

“Those are three good reasons to have a party,” says Day about the debut.

The VIP celebration for the in-store debut of Designing Daughters Fashions was held Friday, Sept. 23, at the boutique.

For more photos, click here.

+ Tidbits
Happy birthday … Kevin Radford celebrated his 40th birthday last weekend with more than 60 guests, including Chris and Johanna Gustafsson, Maynard and Angie Stringer, Robert and Kim Livengood and Todd and Kristin Morton. Happy birthday wishes also go to Betty Schoenbaum, who celebrated her 96th birthday with a luncheon with friends aboard the Marina Jack II … Rocking Michael’s … While guests partied like Gatsby at the Make-A-Wish event, at Michael’s Wine Cellar, another rocking party was going on next door in the ballroom. Chris Eisenberg was celebrating his sweet 16 with more than 120 guests. The kids danced the night away, while also enjoying a set by Eisenberg himself … The calendar calls … BT is collecting events for the 2013-2014 Black Tie social calendar — if we don’t know about it, we can’t cover it! Email the following information to [email protected]: name of your event; group hosting; group benefiting; time, date and place; ticket price; chairperson; contact name; phone number and email; website and event description.

+ Black Tie Affair

Key to the Cure
Benefiting: Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation Inc.
When: 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17
Where: Saks Fifth Avenue
Chairs: Dr. Allison Silver, Nikki Taylor and Sally Schule
Tickets: $75
Contact: 917-1286